Monthly Re-Cap: November 2015

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

November is done, wow -- Holiday Season is upon us :)

November has been a fun month, I love the gearing up toward Christmas and the holidays and spending time with my family. Thanksgiving was wonderful but I am on to trees and lights and ALL THE CHRISTMAS DECORATING! 

Actually to be completely truthful, November has already been full of decorating :P I love it SO much and you have to put up outside lights early so it isn't freezing when the holidays finally come around.

I hope you all had a wonderful November!

What did you do in November? How was your Thanksgiving?

What did you read or listen to in November? 

Link me up in the comments section! 

 

     ~~Books Read in November~~     

                           
                       
    

~~Links to Reviews ~~

• Bats & Bones by Jeffrey Hickey (MG) - 2 stars
• Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman (Adult) - 4 stars, no review
• The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone (New Adult) - 5 stars
• After Alice by Gregory Maguire (YA?/ Adult) - 2 stars
•   Kid Athletes: True Tales from Childhood of Sports Legends by David Stabler (MG) - 4 stars
• Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger (YA)- 5 stars
• Spending the Holidays with People I Want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann (Adult)- 4 stars - review coming in December
• The Christmas Joy Ride by Melody Carlson (Adult)- 5 stars - review coming in December
• Christmas at Lilac Cottage by Holly Martin (Adult) - 5 stars - review coming in December
• A Fair Extraordinary Christmas Story by A.J. York (MG) - 4 stars- review tomorrow
• Agent Darcy and Ninja Steve in... Tiger Trouble by Grant Goodman (MG)- 4 stars 
• Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Kiss Kiss Bang Stab (GN)- 5 stars - review coming in December 
• Princess in Waiting (Princess Diaries #4) by Meg Cabot (YA) - 4 stars - review coming soon 

 

 

Sorry that so many reviews aren't linked but it will give you something to look forward to on the blog for December :) So many great reviews going up.

 

Building the Book Pile #163

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this week! Ours was pretty good. We went to my parents house, about an hour away, and stayed over into Friday morning so that food coma could happen after dinner :)

This weekend, since all of my lights are already up, I got down to some much needed reading time (and a little game time too). Today I am meeting up with my officemate to decorate our office - it is going to be amazingly wonderful and all out. :)

   
What's Happening?! 

How was your week ? Let me know in the comments.

  Giveaways on Cover2CoverBlog!

None to speak of right now :/ 

 

Coming up on the Blog... 

Monthly Re-Cap: November 2015

Happy Holidays from Cover2CoverBlog

Early Reader Review: A Fairy Extraordinary Christmas Story by A.J. York (MG)

Waiting on Wednesday

Blog Tour: Zimmah Chronicles by Scott Brown/ Review of Cupcakes vs. Brownies (Zimmah Chronicles #1)

Discussion Day: Books you will shun me for not reading

      

    Books Received this Week

     

Forbidden By Eve Bunting - Won from Goodreads and HMH Books

Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Kiss Kiss Bang Stab by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti - From Netgalley and DC Comics

Have you missed anything lately (last 2 weeks)? 

• Movie Monday: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Recent Reads: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (YA) - 5 stars
• Waiting on Wednesday: Forbidden by Eve Bunting (YA)
• Happy Thanksgiving
•  Recent Reads: Agent Darcy and Ninja Steve in ... Tiger Trouble by Grant Goodman (MG) - 4 stars
• Early Reader Review: Drones by Chris Lewis (GN) - 1 star

Comment and leave me a link to your Round-up/ STS/ Weekly...anything, post and I will happily stop by and say hello!

 Happy Reading!

Early Reader Review: Drones by Chris Lewis and Bruno Oliveira

Disclaimer: Received from Netgalley and IDW Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review of the book.

 

Drones by Chris Lewis and Bruno Oliveira
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Publication Date:  December 1, 2015

 

Format: ebook
Rating:




 


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Join pilots Stinger and Angel Eyes for a wild night in Las Vegas' finest terrorism-themed hotel. Collecting all five issues of the hit miniseries, this book is a satirical look at a world in which terror and entertainment have begun to blur.

 Review: 
What on earth did I just read? I have no clue and am so confused. The graphic novel is a satire about terrorists, media, and the 'show must go on' mentality of the media and people in the world today - or at least that is what it seems to be. 

I have to say that I stopped reading this about half way through and though about just not finishing it, I was confused about the plot and what was happening and even about who the characters were. There was a lot of action and not enough explanation, and even the when the time and place was listed on the pages it was not clear when things were occurring in the timeline of the story. All of this made the novel very difficult to follow. 

I think that knowing that it was to be a satire and a critical look at terror and entertainment, as the synopsis states, made it easy to see that those things were in fact occurring, but it was a hard read for me. 

The characters all kind of ran together and the drawing was at times more sketchy making it more difficult to distinguish between the numerous characters. Overall, even though I did finish the book, it was not a very enjoyable one for me. Sometimes that is just the case. Others may find this less confusing and actually very entertaining.



 

Recent Reads: Agent Darcy and Ninja Steve in Tiger Trouble by Grant Goodman

Source: Received from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Agent Darcy and Ninja Steve in...Tiger Trouble
Series: Agent Darcy and Ninja Steve #1
Publisher: Createspace
Publication Date:  May 4, 2015

 

Format: Paperback


Rating:
 
 


 



Goodreads Synopsis: 

SECRET MISSIONS. SPIN KICKS. SINISTER GHOSTS.

Thirteen year-old Agent Darcy is one of the top students at the Bureau of Sneakery, where there are three rules every agent must follow: never make friends with an outsider, never speak of the Bureau, and never reveal your real name. Lately, Darcy has hit a rough patch: her rival, Agent Serena, keeps outdoing her. If things keep going this way, Darcy is convinced that no one will ever assign her a real mission.

Ninja Steve’s city, Ninjastoria, is the home of sword fights, throwing stars, and Tae Kwon Donuts. Unlike his genius older sister, twelve year-old Steve isn’t the best ninja student. He’d rather be swinging a sword instead of taking notes in class. Steve, however, is about to learn that being a true ninja means far more than being able to use a sword.

When Darcy is sent to Ninjastoria as an exchange student, it will turn both of their lives upside-down and raise all kinds of questions:

What do the mecha-moles want? Who is the man in the gray mask? What do ninjas eat for lunch? And why is there a menacing tiger on the cover of this book?

Time to read and find out!

Review: 
Can we start by talking about this synopsis? This book sounded wonderful from the very start with this wonderfully funny blurb ...my favorite "and why is there a menacing tiger on the cover...?" oh my, I laughed out loud and still think this is a clever marketing scheme. Love it.

Now on to the book itself, this book was a pleasant surprise. It was super action-packed, witty, fun, and I think a middle grade reader will absolutely love it. The story is told from alternating point of views; a girl named Darcy and a boy named Steve and they come together and end up having to fight a tiger. I love Middle Grade books that alternate points of view - I think they can gain more styles of reader that way.

The book's plot was funny and had enough action to keep me reading - I sat down with it and was able to finish reading it in one sitting. The book is about 180 pages or so, so it isn't too long or too short. It had just enough mystery in the end to make me want to pick up whatever is coming next.

Overall, the story was enjoyable, the characters maybe a bit flat but I think there is a lot of room for details in coming installments. I think that middle grade readers will definitely like this one.